One Year On: The man who sold his life

Jilted and lovelorn, this man auctioned himself on eBay in search of a new life. It worked

When Ian Usher's wife, Laura, walked out on him, he was heartbroken, unable to face living alone in the house they had built for themselves. A clean break and a new start seemed the only option, so Usher, a 45-year-old Englishman living and working in Perth, Australia, did something drastic. This time last year, he decided to put his entire life up for sale to the highest bidder on eBay. His three-bedroom house, full of "reminders of the wonderful life Laura and I had shared", his 1989 Mazda car, his jet ski - plus his job in a Perth rug shop, and even his friends - were all part of the package. A year later, he has certainly succeeded in leaving his old life behind - though in ways he could never have foreseen.

To attract attention to his self- auction, Ian created a website, Alife4sale.com, which was soon clocking up a quarter